Death Does Not do Us Part
by Jeremys Angel
Summary: Title says it all.


Disclaimer - Only borrowing these characters from the master.  
  
Rating: God Q. Wish I knew.  
  
Author: Karin (angel_of_dreams4@hotmail.com)  
  
Archive: Go ahead and feel free to do so. Just let me know.  
  
Thanks: Kim for BETAing this little thing.  
  
Feedback: ALWAYS! ;)  
  
Death Does Not Do Us Part  
  
The candle flickered slightly next to her picture. She would have been 77 today. Although she started dying six years ago, her body left this earth two years ago. How had he made it this long?  
  
"Dad?"  
  
He turned as his oldest daughter approached him. "You're going to be OK?"  
  
Jed smiled. "Yes." Now he knew, like he always had. With the help of his daughters is how he made it. They might all have families of their own, but they never stopped being there for him. Three daughters and seven grandchildren, not bad for an old man. He was grateful that Abbey had been well enough to see all the grandchildren and to know who they were. The grandchildren had been the light of his and Abbey's life. The son-in-laws were another matter. No man would ever be good enough for his little girls. Well, not so little anymore. Liz embraced him and he returned it along with a small peck on the cheek. Ellie and Zoey soon joined them.  
  
"I'll call you tomorrow, OK?"  
  
He nodded as he embraced Ellie and then Zoey, giving each a small peck on their cheeks. He followed them to the front door. As he watched them leave, he felt the urge to tell them one more time. "Hey." He smiled as they turned to face him. "I love you girls, always remember that." He could see they were taken aback by the timing, not by the words because he told them often enough. Maybe they sensed it too. That they would never see each other again.  
  
Ellie was the first one to walk up to him and embrace him again. "I love you, too, always."  
  
Liz and Zoey followed closely and with Ellie and Jed in the middle joined in on the hug.  
  
"Love you, Dad," Zoey said.  
  
"Love you so much," Liz added.  
  
They stood there for a few moments before Jed started to move back from them. "Go. Your families await." They didn't seem to want to leave, but nodded. Again he watched them leave and soon they were out of his sight. He went inside and closed the door behind him. Shuffling over to the table which held Abbey's picture and the candle, Jed sat down. "You didn't deserve this."  
  
Six years earlier Abbey had been diagnosed. Alzheimer's. His whole world had fallen apart. He was the one with a disease, not her. It had sent Abbey into a depression that lasted for weeks. Scared. Scared that she would forget. Forget her husband, her daughters and her grandchildren, friends and former co workers. The world found out and she received messages from all over, but that did nothing to reassure her. What brought her from the depression was his and their daughter's reassurance that no matter what happened, they would never stop loving or caring for her.   
  
It was so unfair. He had had MS for over 30 years and only a few attacks. He started moving slower, but his MS seemed to be in hibernation. He didn't question it. He just enjoyed the fact he wasn't worse. But with Abbey it only took three years until she started getting worse. To start forgetting things. She could look at the man she had been married to for 50 plus years and not know who he was. The first times that happened Jed couldn't hide how he felt but he learned to, to not upset her. Their daughters learned to, also. Even the grandchildren adapted.  
  
What was almost worse was when Abbey suddenly remembered him and kept apologizing, kept scolding herself for ever forgetting him. He reassured her it was OK. It had to be. The last year of her life she never remembered any of them. It must have been hard for her when she saw Leo for the last time. She held him close and asked him to look out for Jed. On a regular basis, CJ came by for visits and Toby dropped in, bringing his kids. Josh and Donna would come by, but it was very hard for Donna to see Abbey like that. Sam, Will, Charlie and all the others never once abandoned them.  
  
What was hardest was not remembering him, her children and grandchildren. It was supposed to be him that would sit there with a blank stare, not being able to put names to their faces. His MS was supposed to do that to him, not Alzheimer's to her. A few months after she died, he had a heart attack. That was expected he supposed, when one loses the most important thing in one's life and just doesn't care enough to look after oneself anymore. The smoking also increased heavily. He still could remember the dream he had in the hospital where Abbey told him it wasn't his time yet and that Liz, Ellie and Zoey would still need him. That kept him going.  
  
He sighed deeply as he blew out the candle. Slowly he got up and made his way upstairs. He took a few deep breaths to get his body to continue to the bedroom. He just laid down on the bed, not bothering to undress. He turned his head to look at the letter Abbey had left him. Her lawyer had handed it to him after she had passed away. He had read it countless times. Liz, Ellie and Zoey had each received one as well. He reached out and picked it up. Carefully he ran his finger over his name written in Abbey's handwriting. He pulled out the letter that had been dated two years before her death, one years before she forgot to never remember again. Once again, he started to read.  
  
"My darling Jed,  
  
One day I'll forget. Forget everything that matters most to me. So before I do I need to put down just what that is. It's you, my love. You and our precious three daughters. Our grandchildren. Our life together. That's what matters most to me. While I still can, I want to remember when we first met, when we first kissed under the tree at your parent's house, when we first made love (and how nervous we both were), when you proposed and when we got married. How scared I was when I had to tell you I was pregnant and how overjoyed I was to see you were nothing but thrilled at the news. When Liz was born and we felt complete. When I became pregnant again and Ellie was born. How you couldn't take your eyes off her, just like you couldn't with Liz. How when I was pregnant again, we hoped for a boy, but how happy we were when Zoey was born. How proud you were each time we brought a daughter home. How proud I was when you reached your goals. When you won The Nobel Prize. When you became President. How happy we were when we had our first grandchild, and the next and the next and. How you fought a losing battle each time one of our children decided to get married, but rebounded to be the proud father that walked her down the aisle. To say all the times I want to remember would keep me writing for days and I want to spend my days doing more important things. And I don't mean just that, so get your mind out of the gutter!! What I am trying to say is I love you, Josiah Edward Bartlet, and since the first time we held hands there hasn't been a day in my life that I did not. Always remember that, no matter what. ALWAYS remember the good times.  
  
Abbey  
  
Jed wiped away a tear and brought the letter close to his heart. He was tired, extremely tired. He needed some rest. He closed his eyes and felt an overwhelming calm envelope him. Soon he opened his eyes, but now he was not in bed and he was not in his bedroom. It was a bright place and he was standing.  
  
"Jed."  
  
It couldn't be? Could it? He turned in the direction of the voice. "Abbey?" He saw a figure approach him and as the figure came closer, he could see who it was. "Abbey!" He wanted to run to her, but for some reason he couldn't bare to move. In a long, white dress she looked like an angel. Was she one now?  
  
She walked up to him. "Welcome."  
  
She looked so young, so beautiful. He lifted his hands. He wanted to touch her, but was afraid she would disappear. She must have sensed it because she brought her hands up to meet his.  
  
Their hands joined and he felt she was as steady as she had been in life. She smiled at him. It gave him courage to embrace her and he felt her arms go around him. "God, Abbey." He buried his face in her neck.  
  
"It's all right, Jed. We're together now."  
  
He jerked from her. "You remember me!" She smiled at him once again. "And you, look so." He eyed her up and down.  
  
"Yes. Here no one looks older than thirty and the things we were afflicted with on earth are no longer part of us here."  
  
He eyed her. "Here?" He didn't get an answer just another adoring smile. "Does that mean my MS?"  
  
"Not anymore."  
  
"What do I look like?" She pointed to behind his back and as he turned he saw himself in a mirror. He looked just like he did when he was thirty.  
  
As he spun back to her it suddenly dawned on him. "The kids?"  
  
"They will be all right. They don't need us anymore. They have their own lives. We'll see them again, but not for a long time."  
  
Good, I mean.." He hung his head slightly. "I'm going to miss them." He looked at her and could see her still smiling at him. "God, I can't believe I'm here with you." He embraced her again and this time even more tightly.  
  
"I'm not going anywhere. Now, come. There are people who want to see you. And one I know you always wanted to meet."  
  
"I'm already where I want to be." He didn't let go of her, but she soon drew away from him.  
  
"I know and we'll be together forever, but first I promised to introduce you. Come."  
  
Jed took Abbey's hand and walked with her. He would follow her anywhere. This time he would not let her go. As they walked he saw a group of people and one waving at Abbey. It looked like...no, was it really..? John F. Kennedy?  
  
~~THE END~~ 


End file.
